Add A Personal Touch To Your Next Disney Gift Card

Oh no! Austin’s birthday is in two weeks and you have gone to the Disney Store for the perfect gift. Wait. Did you just see that Monsters U playset in the toybox? Was he looking for the medium or large Oswald to add to his collection? I think he was wearing that Mickey shirt when we went to Battleship New Jersey. When you’ve narrowed it down to the ideal type of gift (Disney, of course) but are unsure what the exact present should be, start thinking, “Hey, he could pick it out himself”. Head to the register in the store and there is a small selection of Disney gift cards to choose from. Or, you can head back home, go online and get a truly unique gift card of your own design!

The Disney Gift Card website has an option to personalize your gift cards for a small fee (only $4.95)! When I first heard of these, I thought they would just add your name to a gift card and that’s all, but you actually go through a whole process. First, you select the color of the border surrounding the gift card. Choose from blue, orange, green, pink, red and even more. Some borders have designs, like snowflakes or balloons and others deliver a Happy Birthday message. Then, you choose the image you want on your card, and it isn’t from Disney’s collection – it’s from yours! You can include a photo of you, someone you love, your pet or a favorite character. Whatever you want! Now it’s time to pick the amount of money that is on the gift card ($25 – $500) before moving on to the packaging. Yes, packaging – you get to choose that, too. On the front of the greeting card, you get to pick from a variety of covers including splattered paint that form a Mickey, a treasure map and Mickeys hand with pixie dust flying out of it. There are ten styles to choose from to match any personality or occasion. When you open the card, the gift card is glued to the top left, and under that you can add your personalized text. You can also type a message on the entire inside right side, and the top half of the back. You can pick the font and the color, but be careful what you type. My mom wrote “but then” with a clear space between the words for one of my cards, but they wouldn’t print it because it said “butt.” We even added an extra space between the words for clear separation but it was still rejected! Silly Disney. It took about 7 days for our gift cards to arrive. I was very surprised by the quality. No scratches or chips were visible on the gift card and the greeting card that held it was perfectly straight.

I love this idea because it shows that you didn’t think last minute about a gift. Some people get gift cards because they are easy to find or they forgot to buy a gift for the birthday party in 5 minutes. This shows that you put time and effort into finding the right photo and thinking about them as you were putting the pieces together.

What my family is doing with personalized gift cards is unique. I am going to Disneyland with one of my friends and her family, so I have to bring my own money and I have to budget a little bit more than when I go with my parents. My parents decided to break up the money that they were going to give me into separate gift cards, and what is on the gift card is what identifies each one for what it is for. Great idea right! There is one with me sitting on Castaway Cay with a salmon-colored border. This is the money that I can spend on myself. One with Daisy and I dressed dapperly from this past cruise marks that this is money I can spend on other people, hence why I am not alone in the photo. As a gift, we also gave Courtney, the girl who is taking me with her to California, a gift card with a group shot of my brother, Courtney and me (also from the cruise). As a thank you for allowing me to accompany them, my parents decided to treat us to breakfast the final day at Storyteller’s Café. They made a gift card with Courtney and Stitch on it to represent that meal, since Stitch is one of many characters that might appear at Storytellers.

I think one of the greatest gifts to give is a gift card. Disney gift cards are a fun choice because it is great for any age. Children want their favorite characters as plushes and action figures while the adults want to use theirs on apparel and jewelry. Next time, instead of taking what the brick and mortar store has to offer, spend some time having a lot of fun personalizing a gift that will be a treasured gift even after they money has been spent.

What is your favorite way to use a personalized gift card? As a gift? For yourself? To keep things organized? Let me know in the comment section below!

See ya REAL soon!

Quote of the week: “Teenagers: You give them an inch and they swim all over you.” – Sebastian, The Little Mermaid

Makena is a 15 year old high school student who spends much of her free time researching Disney. She enjoys sharing Disney facts and even plans Walt Disney World vacations (including searches for secrets and Hidden Mickeys) for friends and family.Makena began blogging for WDW Radio in December 2011.